The Trigg County Primary/Intermediate Building expansion project is still moving forward, but the entire building will need to have sprinkler system installed.

When the Trigg County Board of Education met Monday night, Bruce Nelson with Hopkinsville-based JKS Architects said current building codes require a sprinkler system. When the building was built in 1972, sprinklers weren’t required, but they would need to be installed throughout the entire building if any additions to it were built, he said.

“The building is under the code in which it was built,” Nelson said. “But when you begin to modify that building … and increase the size in particular, that’s what really attracts the code official’s interest.”

Nelson said that under current building codes, the building as is exceeds the maximum size allowed for a building without a sprinkler system “by a considerable amount,” and he didn’t know how the building is as big as it is without sprinklers, as there have been additions since 1972.

Nelson said a sprinkler system would likely cost between $800,000 and $1 million, and that the proposed HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and re-roofing projects would’ve roughly cost a combined $1.2 million. He added that the sprinkler system could likely be installed over summer break.

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